Exploring Major Switching Among Students with Disabilities: Implications for Inclusive Computing Education
\textbf{Background and Context.} Major switching is an important pathway to computing, but remains understudied in computing education research. Moreover, the scope of research on how students with disabilities across gendered and racial identities navigate computing education remains limited. \textbf{Objectives.} To better understand the extent to which computing programs are inclusive, we (1) examine patterns of switching into and out of computing majors among disabled students at the intersection of race and gender, and (2) explore potential explanations for variation in these patterns. %\noindent\textbf{Objectives.} To better understand the extent to which computing programs are inclusive, we (1) examine patterns of major-switching into and switching out of computing among disabled students and (2) explore potential explanations for variation in these patterns. \textbf{Methods.} We use large-scale, multi-institutional data and perform regression analysis to examine major-switching behaviors among undergraduate students with disabilities, including analyses by disability type and at the intersection of race and gender. We also present descriptive analysis on students’ selected reasons for considering switching into or out of computing. \textbf{Findings.} We demonstrate that undergraduate students with disabilities are 4.9 to 8.2 percentage points more likely to switch into computing overall, depending on model specification. However, this association differs across gender and racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore, higher probabilities of switching into computing are concentrated among students with attention deficit, mental health, and multiple disabilities. We find limited evidence of overall disability-based differences in switching out of computing, though patterns of exit vary at specific intersections of disability with race. \textbf{Implications.} Our findings indicate that disability type and intersecting gender and race identities shape major switching behavior, implying the need for intersectionally nuanced curricular and institutional policies, and research practices in computing. Future computing education research should also qualitatively explore additional factors that may contribute to major-switching behaviors to better understand the full range of affordances and barriers shaping students’ participation in computing.
Thu 13 AugDisplayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change
15:30 - 16:45 | Accessibility and TrajectoriesResearch Papers at Main conference room Chair(s): Amy Ko University of Washington | ||
15:30 25mTalk | Exploring Major Switching Among Students with Disabilities: Implications for Inclusive Computing Education Research Papers Jinyoung Hur University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Michael Kang University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Kathryn Cunningham University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | ||
15:55 25mTalk | “I can’t do four things at once”: Accessibility of CS Lectures and Live Coding for Deaf Students Research Papers Christopher Perdriau University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Shuxu Huffman Gallaudet University, Andrea Watkins University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Colleen M. Lewis University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | ||
16:20 25mTalk | Creating Space to Succeed: How AccessComputing Supports Disabled Students’ Computing Pathways Research Papers Alyson Yin University of California, Irvine, Elizabeth Moore Applied Inference, Lyla M. Crawford University of Washington, Brianna Blaser University of Washington, Maya Cakmak University of Washington, Richard Ladner University of Washington, Elaine Short Tufts University, Raja Kushalnagar Gallaudet University, Stacy Branham University of California, Irvine Link to publication DOI | ||